Ripples
by SoraTakinouchi
Summary: An album of short, pre-confession awkward Sorato moments.
1. Bored

_Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon._

Sora doodled absentmindedly at the back of her notebook, her hand moving lazily; circles within circles within circles . . .

Her leg bounced impatiently against the side of her chair, her hair falling all behind the left side of her face as it rested on her left fist. She was visibly bored out of her mind.

Sighing, she reached for the eraser, and her eyes looked up unexpectedly to find Yamato staring at her from a seat placed diagonally in front of hers; his elbow resting on the back of his chair, his face sitting in his palm. She thought she saw a slight hint of pink in his cheek as their eyes met but considered it her imagination. She smiled sheepishly at him.

"I got bored." she said as she started erasing her doodling earnestly.

Yamato grinned back, "I saw that."

x-x-x

Yamato woke up from his nap to find that the teachers were still busy with the emergency meeting in principal's office. He yawned and turned in his seat to talk to Sora. Sora's posture, however, stopped him.

He smiled as he took in little details marking her pure boredom; neck tilted to one side, cheek balanced on a fist, leg bouncing off the table, mouth shaped in distaste and hand doodling lazily. She was bored and then more.

Yamato found himself captivated by her stance. Her little details suddenly became interesting; hint after hint to her inner self. He felt like he could stare at her, doodling out of boredom, for any length of time and would not get bored.

Contrary to his plans, Sora straightened up, sighed, and made to erase the doodling. She looked up unexpectedly and their eyes met. Yamato found himself suddenly, surprisingly, flustered at being caught like that. He felt color rising in his face, his ears getting hot. Before he could give a made-up excuse of his behavior, Sora smiled sheepishly and said defensively, "I got bored."

Her smile was so like that of a child caught in doing a prank, that Yamato felt his ears getting even hotter. To her, he just grinned knowingly and said, "I saw that."

x-x-x

_A/N: I decided to do a series of pre-confession awkward moments of Sora and Yamato - you know, how they started liking each other, the first of all the hints. These drabbles won't be in a particular order like a proper fanfiction. Just drabbles. You can give me ideas too and I will add them too if I find them interesting._


	2. Nightmares

It felt like it happened a lifetime ago.

Merely a week had passed since they had returned from Digital World - for good this time - yet it all felt like a dream now, a part of another lifetime when they were sucked into another dimension to meet strange creatures made up of data, fighting for their survival, running and hiding from powerful evil Digimons, sleeping in fear, splitting guard duties, scavenging for food. It still felt strange to be sleeping in a bed with the safety of their parents next room and at times they still find themselves awakening in the middle of the night at a sudden noise; alert and on guard.

For Sora and Yamato; there was another set of nightmares inspired by their journey to dark cave. The darkness that had surrounded them then, filling their hearts with despair, was most alive at nights; turning every dream into a twisted, darker shade of reality. They were no longer able to sleep a whole night through without waking up in the middle, drenched with cold sweat, taking their time in realizing that they were not, in fact, still in that cave.

So when Sora found Yamato sitting on the school wall at the end of the day, on her way to her mother's shop, she couldn't help feeling relieved.

"Rough day?" she called out to him, making him start. His head jerked up in surprise.

"Oh, it's you," he sighed, smiling hesitantly, still new to this whole having friends thing, "No. Rough _night_, more likely."

Sora came to a stop right in front of him, "Can I join you up there?"

Yamato rubbed his neck indecisively. Sora was one of the few people he didn't mind having around but in his current sleep deprived state, he was not sure what could set him off. Taking a deep breath and reminding himself to behave, he shrugged, "Sure."

Sora deftly climbed up the tree growing beside the wall, dropped on the wall and walked gingerly over to where he was sitting. She sat down a few feet away from him, her legs dangling down.

"Let me guess, nightmares?" she asked, swinging her legs. Yamato glanced sideways at her.

"Yeah." he muttered, now embarrassed.

"Me too." Sora admitted simply, making him look at her sharply.

"Oh." he looked away after a while, "I thought I was the only one having a hard time adjusting to normal."

Sora chuckled, "Of _course _not. I'm sure everyone is finding it hard to adjust."

Yamato smiled slightly, glancing at her again. She was not wearing her helmet that day and it made him realize what a strange shade her hair was, matching her blazing eyes. He turned his gaze back to his dangling feet.

"What . . . do you have nightmares about?" he asked hesitantly, unsure whether she will be willing to tell.

Sora glanced at him, biting her lip as she considered whether to tell him or not. Yamato had not been her friend for a long time but something about him brought her closer to him in a very short amount of time. She was sure that were there someone else instead of him, she would not be having this conversation.

"The dark cave," she whispered, "I always find myself in there. Sometimes it's me. Sometimes it's another girl who looks exactly like me and I have to get her out of there," she pushed her hair behind her ear, "I always fail in saving her."

Yamato looked up at her and Sora moved her gaze from the sky to meet his. There was no sympathy in there and she was glad for it. There was, however, a look of understanding, of exactly fathoming the depth of her fear and she realized he might be having the same dreams.

"You, too, right? You dream about the dark cave, too?" she asked curiously. Yamato looked away, shying from her inquisitive eyes. Sora kept her eyes fixed on him, noticing the sky reflected in his eyes blending with the blue of them, the slightly elongated shape of them, unlike any of her friends, unlike, even, his brother. She kept her eyes on him and willed him to admit it.

He could no longer ignore her gaze and finally admitted, defeated by the intensity of her look, "Yeah. The same ones. But . . . " he flushed suddenly as he halted mid sentence.

"But?" Sora asked gently.

Yamato sucked in his cheeks, considering whether to tell her or not. They have come this far in this conversation and strangely he was not ready for it to end.

"But in my dreams . . . sometimes . . . you are there, too. I mean . . . I have to get _you _out of the cave. And . . . and I fail in doing so." he looked at her anxiously, waiting for her response.

Sora looked thoughtful as she stared down at the road, "I guess it comes from you saving me in real. I mean, you must be afraid then, too. And it turned into a nightmare for you." she smiled at him warmly, "It's not easy going down in the dark cave to save someone else."

Yamato smiled back, encouraged by her response, "Yeah, that could be it."

Sora went on, "It reminds me . . . I haven't properly thanked you for getting me out of it. It went really bad and busy really fast with the Digimon battle afterwards but Takeru told me how Jyou and he were afraid of going in there but you went in anyway. It must be very hard for you and I'm very grateful you came after me. I don't know how else I was gonna come out of it."

Yamato reached out with his hand, paused slightly in hesitation, then placed it on her shoulder, "I know that you would have done the same for your friends, so it's no big deal."

Sora smiled, "You're probably right." she jumped down the wall and landed hardly on the road, "I have to go now. It's going to be dark soon and I have to reach home before my mother." she scratched her ear sheepishly, "Actually, I was suppose to help her with the shop today but I stopped to talk to you."

Yamato jumped down, too, now grinning, "I hope you don't get into trouble for that."

"Probably not. Still, we should be heading home."

Yamato nodded, "Right. My father will be home soon so I should be going too."

They both started walking home side by side and Yamato realized that he had just shared something personal with someone outside his family. It felt both like a pleasant surprise to his new self and a disappointment to his old self. The old Yamato would never have opened to someone like that, would never have made an effort to get someone to like him as a friend. He glanced at Sora and smiled. Sharing his fear with her was not as hard as he had imagined. It helped that she was facing the same thing and the fact that he was not exceptionally weak in coping with his nightmares was a relief. Just _talking _to her was a relief. She had the tendency to ease any sort of discomfort by acting casual, which was more than welcome by him who was often uncomfortable around others. Yamato realized that as much as he finds it hard to befriend others, he wouldn't mind having _her _as his friend. It felt nice.

_A/N: The idea behind this drabble belongs to AmeliePoptart, so in case you like this, it's all because of her and you should appreciate her. I just did my limited part of giving it a scenario._

_However, Amelia, I will be the first one to acknowledge that I'm not good with words and still new to this whole writing thing, so in case I disappoint your expectations and this drabble is not what you had imagined, I'm truly sorry. Your idea was brilliant but my writing style is not what you can call "impressive". So you might find it not as good as you expected._

_Any of my readers are welcome to give me more ideas for drabbles. I'll try my best to put them in as best a scenario as possible._


	3. Nervous

"I should _never _have left soccer. What was I _thinking_?!" Sora sat down heavily on the school bench, her face slightly green.

"Serves you right." Taichi said grudgingly, lying on the grass in front of her.

"_Thank _you, Taichi." Yamato said, rolling his eyes. Sora looked even greener.

"What? She wouldn't be that nervous if she had stuck with soccer."

"He's right." Sora said gloomily, putting her forehead against the tennis racket.

"Sora, come with me." Yamato stood up and pulled her to her feet firmly, "_You_," he pointed an accusing finger at Taichi, "Should stay here. You are only making things worse."

Taichi sighed, "Sorry, Sora. But I still can't forgive you for ditching soccer."

Yamato decided not to reply his pigheaded friend and led Sora to the school roof. The weather was windy and partially cloudy. They both stood by the wall, facing the school grounds. Sora inhaled deeply as a gust of wind pushed her hair back from her face. Few moments of fresh air had helped losing the greenish tint from earlier.

"Feeling better?" Yamato asked after a long silence.

"Slightly." Sora replied, propping her elbows on the wall and placing her chin in her palm.

"What's exactly worrying you so much?" Yamato asked.

"Everything, Yamato, _every_thing," she said, hiding her eyes in her arms, "Tomorrow is our first match with Kyoto Middle School and I don't think I'm that good at tennis. I mean, I started only _four _months ago."

"Six. You had been practicing with your mother over the vacations."

"Yeah, but _still_."

"You have never been that nervous before any of your soccer matches." Yamato commented lightly, smiling.

Sora raised her head, tucking her flying hair behind her ears, "I had been playing soccer since kindergarten. It never felt like anything I had to _learn_." she smiled slightly, "Besides, everything is just for fun when you are in kindergarten. Not much competition." she sighed, rubbing her arm nervously, her panic state returning, "But now that I'm old enough to get nervous about competitions, I shouldn't have left soccer in the first place."

Yamato glanced sideways at her, his eyes scrutinizing her face. She had lost all of her determined look, her confident eyes, her stubborn set of mouth. She was worried and nervous, rubbing her arm out of habit, her expressions vulnerable, her eyes unsure. She looked . . . breakable - fragile. Yamato blinked and looked away.

"Listen," he started awkwardly, "Your team thinks you are ready. Your _coach _thinks you are ready. So maybe you _are _ready."

Sora nodded, looking unaffected by his words. Yamato realized that the reason he couldn't find the right words was because he had never seen a nervous Sora before. They had been friends for two years only and in that time Sora had always been quite confident and determined about her life. Now, though, her confidence was gone and Yamato was getting too caught up in how she looks kind of . . . _adorable _when she is nervous to find proper words.

His eyes went slightly wide and he blushed furiously at the inappropriate choice of word that came to his mind when thinking about Sora's expressions. He cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable now. Sora looked up at him anxiously. Her nervous expression made Yamato struggle for something - _any_thing - to say to her so that her expression would change to one slightly _less _threatening to his mental state.

"Sora, I'm not good at giving pep talks and stuff," he began hastily, then chuckled, "You probably already know that. But I know one thing. You had been working really hard at tennis for past few months. If you decide to drop out of the match a day before, you may end up regretting it later. So why don't you just stop thinking about how good everyone else is and focus only on giving your best."

To his great relief, Sora's expressions changed from nervous and unsure to that of thoughtful.

"I guess you are right." she said quietly, "I _do _think that if I drop out now, I'll regret it as soon as the match begins." she said, nodding, her usual confidence overcoming her rare nervousness, "You're right. I should forget about everyone else. It doesn't matter if I win or loose as long as I give my best." she smiled up at him, "You are not _that _bad at this advice giving thing."

Yamato smiled back halfheartedly. He found himself actually hoping she would get nervous again so that he can look at nervous Sora again.

x-x-x

"I don't know how am I gonna _do _that! There are gonna be so _many _people there." Yamato paced the floor restlessly, his eyes anxious, his face pale with anxiety, his hands tucked deep in his pockets.

"It's going to be all right, Yamato," Sora said calmly, "You have done concerts in school proms and festivals. You will do great out there, too."

"How?" Yamato threw his hands in the air, "Those were school kids only, mostly our classmates I already _know_. But these people . . . I don't know _any _of them. And there will be people of different ages, too."

"Trust me, Yamato, there _will _be some of your classmates there, too," Sora said, smiling, "You have made quite a few fans here. And most of the other people will be close to our age. Teen music bands are usually attractive to the kids of our age mostly."

Yamato paused in his pacing, a look of horror on his face. Sora braced herself for another nerve attack.

"I never thought of that." Yamato whispered quietly.

"Thought of what?"

"What if there is not much public?" he asked, turning to Sora with dread, "I'm getting nervous over going public, but what if people are not interested at _all_? What if the concert is just a big failure?"

Sora stood up with a frown and glared at Yamato. He looked back with an anxious look and Sora sighed, loosening up.

"Yamato, why don't you relax?" she pulled him to the bench and sat him down forcefully. She then sat in front of him on her toes, "You have done half a dozen concerts for school now. You have made _many _fans. They _love _your music, your singing. You are _good _at this. So just relax. You will have a good audience tonight and they will love your singing just like everybody at school does. No need to be so nervous."

Yamato kept looking at her for few moments, digesting her words, then exhaled and gave her a slightly less nervous smile, "Okay. You are right. It will be all right even if no one comes."

Sora sighed, trying not to smile. He had extracted the wrong result of her long speech but she decided not to mention it. She looked up at him and bit her lower lip.

Nervous Yamato was kind of . . . _cute_.

Sora bolted out of her thoughts at that word, looking away from Yamato.

_What am I thinking, _she was surprised at herself, _it's just . . . nothing, _she told herself firmly,_ I did not just think that. I did not._

She stood up and stepped back a little. Yamato looked up at her in confusion.

"You are right," she smiled hesitantly, not meeting his eyes, "It's going to be all right."

x-x-x

_A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed my last two chapters. Because of your encouragement, this chapter was finished sooner than I expected. Thank you, Rayy (guest), AyakiStory, Narniagirl2, AmeliaPoptart, Sora Takenouchi Ishida, grandprincessanastasiaromanov5, misaki92, Sora Loves Rain and most of all CassandraOT5 for your nice words and liking the idea of these drabbles._


	4. Smile

She stared at him, eyes widening at the way his face shone with happiness when he saw his brother. She had never seen him smile like that before. Everything felt different with him smiling so fully.

"Big brother! I missed you _so _much!" Takeru yelled happily as he fell into Yamato's arms, hugging him tightly.

"I know," Yamato said. He still couldn't tell his brother that he missed him, too. "It's good to see you."

Sora noticed how his blue eyes shone even brighter. The smile he gave was not one out of politeness but a real one—the one that made his eyes crinkle at the edges. She noticed how the guarded, sullen look of his eyes was entirely gone—all because Takeru had come to visit him over the weekend.

Yamato looked up over Takeru's shoulder, noticing Sora staring at him, her eyes surprised. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Sora came out of her trance and smiled sheepishly, shaking her head a little.

"Nothing." She told him.

At the same moment, Takeru broke away from Yamato and hugged Sora around the waist.

"You too, Sora," he said. "I missed you."

Sora smiled fully now and hugged him back.

"I missed you, too, Takeru."

She looked up from Takeru to see Yamato still smiling. That was probably the longest he had smiled and Sora found herself hoping he would smile more—the same _real _smile that softened his face until there was no hint of the closed-off person he was, the smile that showed the person who would come after her in the dark cave, that showed how much he cared.

She wished she could see him like that more often.

x-x-x

He stared at her, lips pursed, surprised at the way tiny balls of frozen water—snow—could fall from the sky and change her expression from that of seriousness and maturity to one of child-like glee.

She spun around, her face split in a wide grin, cheeks flushed with cold.

"So _beau_tiful!" she exclaimed. More and more snowflakes tangled themselves in her lashes, sparkling on her auburn hair.

"Are you _sure _you don't need your umbrella?" Yamato asked once again, smiling in her delight. Her typical guarded expression was all but gone, replaced with a mixture of excitement and joy.

"No, I _love _snow," she said, laughing. Yamato found himself chuckling with her. He couldn't help it. She was intoxicating in that moment.

"But you will be all wet when the snow melts," He warned half-heartedly. He was enjoying this unrestrained, childish side of her.

"Doesn't matter." She shrugged. Her eyes were wide, more alive than usual. Yamato caught himself staring at her, entranced, and looked away sheepishly.

Maybe that was the reason—him looking away—that he didn't see the snowball Sora threw at him a moment later. The ball hit him in the shoulder, splattering in a white, wet mess, and slid down his coat. He stared at it in horror, then looked up to find Sora laughing.

"That was just _snow_, Yamato," she said placatingly. "I didn't hit you with a missile."

"Missile would be _better_," Yamato said, brushing off the snow, "At least it wouldn't have been so . . . _wet_." He tried to sound annoyed but failed as a small smile crept to his lips.

Sora laughed again.

_Perhaps, _Yamato thought, _snow __i__sn't so bad after all._

_x-x-x_

_A/N: Thanks to my beta reader, you guys are getting this so soon. Your reviews are always welcome - more than welcome. My special thanks to Rayy, AyakiStory, misaki92 and CassandraOTP for taking time to review. And no, Cassandra, they may seem like in sequence accidently but they are just random. In fact the plot for chapter one definitely takes place after chapter 2._

_Hope you guys enjoy the drabble. Have a nice day._

x-x-x


	5. Laugh

Sora laughed, her eyes streaming with tears. Taichi looked grumpily at her, pausing in his outrageous story for her laughter to subside. To him, it was not as funny as Sora's laughter implied. He had been the victim, after all.

"Not as funny as you think," he scowled.

Sora laughed even harder and Taichi decided to walk away as his way of protest. He knew Sora would follow him sooner or later for the rest of his story.

"Taichi, wait! I want to know the rest." She extended her arm to stop him, still laughing.

"I'm getting something to eat," he said, stomping his way to kitchen. Sora renewed her laughter at his way of walking and her eyes met Yamato's.

Yamato silently stared at her.

Sora stopped abruptly.

"What?" she asked self-consciously.

Yamato seemed to come to himself at her address and straightened up.

"Nothing." He smiled quickly, his face slightly flushed as he looked down at the homework the trio was supposed to be doing, "Don't mind me. I was just thinking about something else."

Sora was sure that was not the case but Taichi interrupted them, bringing a bag of potato chips and inviting them over.

x-x-x

He _knew _they were supposed to do homework - that was the sole purpose of gathering at Taichi's house - but he found himself not minding Taichi's outrageous tale that made Sora laugh. _Especially _because it made Sora laugh.

He was surprised why he had never noticed the way she laughed before: head thrown slightly back, cheeks flushed, eyes bursting with energy. She had an infectious laugh - one that made him laugh without even listening to what Taichi was actually telling - and it made him observe her more closely.

He had seen her laugh many times before, never noticing the tiny details, but now he could clearly see the difference. With people outside of their trio, her laugh had been nothing more than a polite chuckle, or a rather reserved sort of laugh. With Taichi and him, though, she never seemed to hold any of herself back.

It was a liberating sort of laughter, building slowly at the base of her throat until it spilled out all at once, and the sound of her laughter was not exactly girlish, but still . . . _nice_. Fresh and sincere.

Taichi, finally taking offense, stomped away, and Sora, still smiling, turned to their homework. Her eyes lifted, meeting his gaze unexpectedly. Immediately, her smile faltered and she asked, "What?"

Yamato blinked, feeling caught and embarrassed.

He sat up straighter.

"Nothing." He smiled and looked away from her to his notes. "Don't mind me. I was just thinking about something else."

A sideways look at Sora's face made him realize that she didn't believe him.

And therefore, as soon as they were out of Taichi's house, Sora rounded him.

"So, tell me. Why were you staring like that?"

Yamato went blank at the sudden assault.

"Mmm, just thinking about something else."

"It was my laugh, right?"

Yamato stared at her in shock, surprised by her accuracy.

"Your - your _laugh_?" he stuttered.

Sora sighed and shook her head dejectedly.

"It's loud, I know. And not very good."

"Huh?" Yamato was still confused.

"My laugh. It's really bad. That's why I try not to laugh that often."

"No, no." Yamato was surprised she would come to that conclusion. "Your laugh is really . . . not bad."

"Uh-huh." She didn't look like she believed him.

"No, really!" Yamato insisted, "It's actually . . . _nice_."

"It's loud," she insisted. "And _boyish_. My mother always tells me to laugh less loudly, that it's not _'lady-like_'." She made quotation marks in air. "But it's out of my control."

"Well, I don't mind it," Yamato assured her. "I still think it's nice - the way you laugh. Makes me laugh, too."

Sora looked sideways at him. Her eyes narrowed.

"Is that why you were staring at me?" she asked.

Yamato stared at her, his mind going blank again.

"I - _no_, I was -" He caught Sora's grin and realized she was kidding. He sighed with relief.

"I know, I know," said Sora. "You were thinking about something else."

"Yeah," he muttered, "Something else."

x-x-x

_A/N: Yeah this chapter came out later than usual ... maybe because of the lack of as many reviews as I was expecting, but hey! I DID update, right? That's the silver lining. And I must say that this chapter is written and published only because of you guys who reviewed and liked the series. I almost lost interest. Chikamelia (sorry for the diabetes attack), Rayy, CassandraOT5, misaki92 and AyakiStory. Oh and Rayy, you asked for more Sorato family fics but I already have written quite a few. You can check them out on my profile. Thanks for your review on Shared Memories, too._


	6. Name

He didn't know _when _exactly it started happening - maybe somewhere around the start of their seventh grade, or maybe halfway through it - but he started liking the sound of her name.

At first it was only the sound of it. Anyone calling for Sora would get his immediate attention, her name breaking through his concentration of whatever he might be doing at the moment. He found himself looking up whenever her name is called, unknowingly waiting for her voice to reply back. Then it became more.

It was not her fault that her name meant "sky" and thus wherever the sky is meant to be mentioned in his Japanese literature, he would find her name. Soon, even seeing it written started catching his attention, making his eyes linger on it more than any other word.

He discovered his preference to her name when he found himself using the word "sky" unnecessarily in his Japanese essays, just to give himself a reason to write her name. Of course, with that discovery came denial then disbelief then embarrassment then self loathing for being so stupid and unbelievably pathetic, but in the end he came to the same conclusion.

He liked the sound and sight of Sora's name.

x-x-x

She thought it was too silly to be possible.

How _could _it be?

She couldn't explain why his name gets her attention; even the slightest, most careless mention of his name. She couldn't think of a reason as to why the most unrelated conversations becomes suddenly interesting if his name is mentioned. She felt at loss for a reason as to why his band posters or more specifically the name "Yamato" on them captures her eyes even from a distance.

She got immensely embarrassed and confused when she found herself smiling unnecessarily whenever typing his name for her essay on "Yamato era of Japan". Not to mention how she felt her spirits lift whenever she recognizes his deep voice in the mixture of several voices in the room.

It was so silly and so _embarrassing_. Surely it was impossible, right?

She can't be liking his _name__, _certainly? The sound of it, the sight of it. Of _cour__se_, not. How pathetic she has to be to like his _name_?!

x-x-x

_A/N: A bit slow on updates, yeah, considering I already have them written down. I guess I'm just getting too distracted by Merlin and how much I ship MerlinxMorgana (a.k.a Mergana). I have decided to write a fanfiction for those two 'cause they both are just AWESOME together!_

_Please review? Reviews make me update faster! _


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